Having secured money through a 2009 bond measure, Spokane Public Schools began the process of renovating North Central High School in Downtown Spokane near the Gonzaga University campus. Originally designed in 1908, North Central wasn’t designed to support 1,600 students and had added two portable additions, including the use of an old post office.
The distance between these teaching spaces created the loss of instructional time as students had to walk from the central campus to the annexed buildings and denied access to students with mobility challenges from moving between buildings at all. Additionally, it led to an increase in safety concerns as it was difficult to supervise all the open space.
NAC Architecture was hired to redesign North Central, bringing all of the buildings under one structure. The resulting project is a 206,000 square foot high school occupying 18.4 acres that opened in 2014. With an emphasis on STEM, North Central now has a 40,000 square foot consolidated science and technology department with six science labs. In 2017, further additions were made to North Central adding a 32,000 square foot renovated cafeteria and common area also designed by NAC Architecture.
NAC chose face brick from Mutual Materials to serve as the building’s veneer. Mixing the dark tones of Coal Creek and the purples and browns of Autumn Blend and Mountain Blend, the brick veneer provides a unique color contrast throughout the field.
Garco Construction was the general contractor for the science department expansion and Graham Construction and Management, Inc of Spokane led construction of the cafeteria. Spilker Masonry of Spokane was the masonry contractor on both projects.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our face brick and wide variety of color options can help bring your design to reality, call us today at 1-888-688-8250 to speak with an architectural sales representative.
Citations:
- North Central High School
- City of Spokane, Washington
- Spokane Public Schools
- Mutual Materials
- Mutual Materials – Face Brick
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